that, Malkala turns her head sharply, trying to find the source of the voice that she now hears. It is gone, though, and as Aldori quickly finishes off the giant, there is no one else living in the room but the four adventurers and the swordlord Lady Aldori.

A horrid screech and cough escapes from Zrak's mouth as he comes to. The wounded ratfolk lies on the crimson-soaked ground, finding his armor ruined and his body covered in that same liquid once within his body. Malkala and the other adventurers see his hands and feet violently spasm for a moment, regaining control of his body, before he finally relaxes.

"Urk." His ratty mouth licks and chomps on the taste of copper as he looks at his surroundings. Malkala, Amiri, Linzi... and a handful of dead assassins and frost giants.

The narrow green eyes blink at the giants. Did Lady Aldori fight those off by herself? Damn, maybe she'd have been just fine on her own.

The overwhelming stench of blood and his own exhaustion leaves Zrak lying on the ground. It's best for him not to move either, else he'd needlessly injure himself just getting on his feet. "So... it's over?" His voice is weak past the dust-coated tone. Shaking his head, Zrak looks at Aldori and then nods to Malkala. "Guess we got her approval." He speaks with a slow chuckle, referencing the voice he heard. That was her, right? He feels like he heard it before, but can't place it.

Slowly, and with effort, Zrak finally rises to his bone-thin feet. His body wobbles like an unsupported skeleton as he gets a better look at the area. "Well, that should be it. Are you all doing..." His body nearly topples over, laying his arm on the side of the wall for support, "better than me?"

As Zrak works to steady himself, he can see that Malkala resembles what he must of looked like after the first strike against him. The blood has stopped flowing, but the gash remains. However, she seems more worried about him as she looks him over. While she does, the group can hear the soft footsteps of Lady Jamandi Aldori approach.

"You may want to stop smothering the man, Malkala." She says with slight humor in her voice, "Unless you mean to mother him?"

Malkala immediately straightens when she realizes Lady Aldori was behind her as if she was at military attention. There is a moment of thought, then one of embarrassment. At that, Lady Aldori laughs, "Calm down, girl! You really need to learn a bit of humor."

But the smile is still on the half-elven noble's face as she turns to address the group as a whole, "I thank you, adventurers, for your assistance today. Who knows how much more damage would have been done if you had not come along to help? But I know that you may not be interested in just words as a reward, so I promise a suitable reward for your assistance." Her eyes look to her trophy room, but Zrak and Malkala get the feeling that she is looking beyond the walls at the damaged manor as a whole, "Before I give it to you, though, I must care for my manor, the people inside, and building."

It is hard to notice, and at first both Zrak and Malkala thought they missed it, or imagined it, but they see the glint in Lady Aldori's eyes change. The bright brown orbs, which throughout the fight and the feast before held sharp observation and nobility, die down. Her face, scarred but confident, turns down slightly. It is not difficult to imagine why: Lady Aldori cares for those under her, even if they were temporary guests to her feast. And not even the experienced swordlord and ex-adventurer could hide the sorrow of what happened that night seemingly simply because she is a noble of great renown in Brevoy.

In a split moment, it is gone, and Lady Aldori turns back to the pair, "But, in the meantime, feel free to search the intruders and see what gear you could use from them. You can take whatever you can carry, but know that anything left behind will be put to good use to resupply or sell." She starts to walk back to the Great Hall, but she stops at the door's threshold, "And I would appreciate it if you left my servants and guards untouched. I wish to bury them as proper men and women under my banner."

With that, she disappears from view, her footsteps retreating toward the Great Hall.

Linzi stares at where the Lady disappeared to and sighs in a mix of awe and relief, "She is just like the stories." Then, as her body seems to realize that the battle is over, it starts shuttering and shaking from the adrenaline. "Oh Shelyn, we lived. I knew there would be fighting and conflict. I would be an idiot not to expect it, but that was so sudden. And brutal. And I was just in the back providing support!" She looks up at Malkala and Zrak, "You two were the main fighters." At Amiri's loud cough, the halfling turned to her and gave her an apologetic smile, "Sorry, Amiri. You did great too." Her eyes return to looking at the floor, "But, my point stands. It is incredible how you three could handle being in the thick of it."

For as much as he wanted to bask in the praise, Zrak shakes his head towards Linzi. His wounded body was like wounding his pride and it was hard for him to stand on the same pedestal as Malkala and Amiri. "Heh, yeah, I'm damn sure," he says, half-appreciative and half-sarcastic as he leans his furred back upon the wall. "Malkala and I haven't been traveling long together," he continues, looking at Linzi and Amiri. "But we make a good team." His body aches in pain while looking down at his wounds.

While standing, Zrak takes the opportunity to bandage his wounds. In a short time, his open gashes are stitched, closed, and blood once more remains trapped in organs and muscle. With a hefty sigh of relief, the muscled ratfolk takes another look at the two slain giants. "I never caught much, but damn, Aldori is something else." He can't even fathom killing a frost giant on his own; how could he? He preferred fighting as a swarm, not as a duelist.

He sure has a long way to go as a warrior.

Zrak makes sure his bone-thin legs can stand to walk before taking a look at the nearby slain assassin leader. "You heard her: get looting. As he says that, he looks at the leader's greataxe still stained with his own blood. With a red glint in his eye, Zrak grabs upon the handle and heaves upward. A stinging strain aches his body before even getting it off the ground, and he sighs while letting go of the large weapon. A pity, for he'd love the chance to swing it.

Looking elsewhere, he leans down next to one of Aldori's fallen guards. The ratfolk glances an interesting necklace he starts reaching for, until frozen still by a fierce glare from Malkala.

As he quietly looks around the room again, a small thought comes to his mind. "She sure did a number here," he says to the dragonborne, referring to Lady Aldori's work slaying giants at the Dueling Hall. "Is this the sort of swordplay you saw from her when she saved you, way back?"

Malkala is kneeling down at the body of the leader, looking through their belongings. She pulls out a few potions, a necklace, a ring, and a pair of goggles. Her eyes look over each item closely, studying them, trying to find their worth. As she does, she answers Zrak's question, her voice a bit distant.

"Yeah. She honestly has only gotten better since. I think helping teach me really increased her skills." Malkala turns her head to the greataxe, "Don't lose that greataxe. While the haft of it broke easily, the blade itself is magical. She also has a few healing potions and this pair of goggles. The necklace and ring aren't magical, but can be sold for a bit of money."

The dragonborne then stands up and hands the goggles to Zrak, "These will help with tracking and orienting yourself in the wild. You want it? As for the greataxe, with some time, I can take the rune from it and put it in one of our weapons." She then hands over one potion to each of the adventurers in the room.

Once the items are passed out, she looks around the room, "I say we head back to our rooms. We can recover, help out in the clean up if we wish, and rest until tomorrow." She looks to Zrak and the others, "Despite the night we had, there is some joy in the fact that tomorrow we get our official charter to enter the Stolen Lands. Our adventure truely begins tomorrow."

With Malkala's words in his mind, Zrak takes the goggles, healing potions and jewelery, putting them away in whatever pockets are still intact. Afterward, he looks at the greataxe again. The barbarian takes a deep breath, grabbing the wood close to the blade, and heaves it once more. With enough effort and some grit, the weapon leaves the ground and barely fit his bone-thin hands. The sheer weight and his fatigue leaves him unable to swing it; but at least its magic may be used for another weapon.

This was not how Zrak imagined things would start. He figured there'd be some other way, something more lengthy, by which it'd be earned. Perhaps the assassin attack demands a change of pace; and this likely is not the last time assassins will be after them.

Another thought crosses his mind. Where is Maegar Varn? The noble hasn't shown up since the feast.

Perhaps there will be answers in the morning; or perhaps there won't. Zrak can't care less tonight.

Tomorrow will be the big day. So with a hefty breath, he thanks Linzi and Amiri for the help, then slowly walks back to his room for some much-needed sleep.

As the adventurers pass by the Great Hall, they see Lady Aldori taking charge of the recovery. Guards are busy moving corpses into organized rows, any remaining fires are being put out, and some guards and servants are simply sitting down trying to mentally recover from the sudden assault. No one seems to pay attention to the group as they simply head back into their rooms. Zrak immediately passes out on the bed, exhausted from the night.

Malkala, however, cannot sleep. Zrak doesn't notice or wake up as she works on healing them both, getting them back to full health, and doing repair work on their gear. Once that is done, if Zrak does actually wake up during the night, he would see Malkala sitting up in her bed, papers scattered about, feverishly sketching, scratching, and otherwise writing on any paper she can find. This goes on until well into the day.

It is noon when there is a soft knock at the door. Malkala looks up to find one of Lady Aldori's servants standing there, blood still staining her clothing, face and hair as ragged as Malkala's. Yet, she holds on to her dignity and professionalism as she bows, "Lady Aldori is about to start the ceremony to hand out charters. But before we go, she wanted me to hand these to you."

The half-orc servant hands Malkala a small pouch, the coins inside jingling, and two more healing vials. Malkala bows once handed the items and says, "Give us a moment and we will be ready to go."

The servant bows again and says, "Very well."

Malkala takes her money pouch and puts in half of the reward money, then puts the health vial in her bag. She then shakes Zrak awake, "Time to wake up, Zrak."

As the ratfolk wakes up, she packs up the stacks upon stacks of paper that had cluttered the bed. If he pays attention to what is on the paper, he can see what looks like design sketches and notes for some kind of mechanical bracer.

Unlike the dragonborne, Zrak was almost literally dead asleep the moment he got back into bed. His body lay on the comfortable mattress with shallow breaths, taking as much time as he can to simply rest up. Malkala's attempts to awake him respond with a slow shake of his head and his body rolling to his side.

Another shake, however, finally arouses him, snapping his incisors together and pulling his aching body out. "Ugh... already time?" He grabs and puts on his clothing, mere travel clothes and his hooded cloak. The green hood flaps over the snout, minus the two wide holes for his eyes.

His studded leather armor looks like a wreck, between the stab and gashes across it; but it still provided enough protection for now. He'll just have to repair it when he can.

He has a more nonchalant, almost carefree feel in his steps. He's still overly wary but appears lost to the gravitas of the charter. "Well I'm good to go," he says to Malkala before noticing the scattered papers all across on her bed. "...Damn, what are all those?" His green eyes have a concerning gleam. Malkala... did get sleep, right?

Malkala seems to be energetic, despite the fact that she did indeed stay up all night. Zrak gets the feeling that she has pulled all-nighters many times before. She looks at the page she's holding for a moment, "It's an idea I had for an item. It should help with using my vials."

She packs it all away and sighs, "I'm ready too." She turns to the servant, who is still standing at the door, at the ready, "Lead the way, please."

The half-orc woman bows and motions to follow. As the pair walk through the manor, they see that the recovery of the manor is already starting up. Bodies have all been put in their spots for burial or disposal. It is clear though, that Lady Aldori does not care what happens to the assassins. While her guards, servants, and even the adventurer guests are all lined up and organized, ready to be transported for burial, the assassins' bodies were all tossed to the side. Some in piles, others just tossed wherever they landed. Those who still live are busy cleaning the bloodstains, making minor repairs, or recovering.

Once they arrive at the door to the Great Hall, the servant opens the door and waves the pair to enter. When they enter, they are shocked at how quickly the manor's Great Hall was restored in the space of just a few morning hours. Very few signs of the violence of the night before remain, and things have been mostly returned to normal. As the adventurers who survived the assault take seats at the tables, other adventurers who arrived just today settle in as well. Even with these